In the first major shift in bargaining by either side, the league offers an even split in revenue in a bid to start the season Nov. 2.

“We believe it is our best shot at preserving an 82-game regular-season and playoffs,” Bettman told reporters during a break in talks with the union.

By:Kevin McGranSports Reporter, Published on Tue Oct 16 2012

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called it his “best shot” to save the season. NHL Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr called it an “excellent starting point.”

But there’s movement — real movement — to save the NHL season.

Bettman surprised many Tuesday when he offered an across-the-board 50-50 split on hockey-related revenue with the league’s locked-out players.

Changing the conversation immediately from that disastrous focus-group leak that gave the players the moral high ground, Bettman laid out a proposal envisioning an 82-game season and full playoffs that would see the Stanley Cup decided before the end of June.

“We made a proposal . . . that is our best shot at preserving an 82-game regular season and playoffs,” said Bettman. “We believe that this was a fair offer for a long-term deal, and it’s one that we hope gets a positive reaction so that we can drop the puck on Nov. 2 — which, backing up, entails at least a one-week training camp. So we have about nine or 10 days to get this all put to bed, signed, sealed and delivered, in order for this offer to be effective and for us to move forward.”

The league’s proposal would see training camps open Oct. 25 or 26, and teams would play one extra game every five weeks to squeeze in what’s been missed so far.

So the pressure was placed firmly on the players, who held a conference call to discuss just what was in the NHL offer.

“It’s not short and there are some explanatory documents we have to wade through. We have to make sure we read it completely and thoroughly, that we understand it,” said Fehr. “I would like to believe that after we’re done with this (review) that it will be an excellent starting point to see if there’s a deal to be made.”

It may well be the players won’t like all of the terms. For one, while a 50-50 split sounds fair, the players have contracts that were tailored to a 57 per cent split.

Had a 50-50 split been in place last season, when the league generated $3.3 billion in revenue, the salary cap would have been $63 million instead of $67 million.

While the NHL is not asking for a salary rollback, it’s believed the owners will ask players to place a large percentage of their salaries into an escrow account until the league hits certain growth targets.

The players have opposed such proposals before, fearing their salaries would be eventually be clawed back by the teams. That had been the teams’ right through the expired CBA.

But ESPN reported that the NHL raised the idea of the players deferring their escrow refunds, so if the league hits targets a year or two down the road, then the players can claw back money from previous seasons.

And the NHL wants AHL players under NHL contracts to count under the cap. No longer would $6.5 million-a-year players like Wade Redden be buried in the minors. But the more players who count under the cap, the less money there is for players on NHL rosters.

According to Sportsnet, the league also proposed that:

• The length of the CBA be six years (the last one lasted seven).

• Contract length be limited to five years (there are currently no limits).

• Entry-level contracts could be as low as two years (down from three).

• Players would hit unrestricted free agency at 28, or after eight years of service. (This year, players could become UFAs at 25, after seven years of service).

Arbitration would be unchanged. There would be a $200 million revenue pool to help small-market teams.

Fehr sounded hopeful.

“I’ve been looking for a way to get theses negotiations jumpstarted and if this does it, that would be great,” he said.

The league had previously offered a six-year deal with 49 per cent going to the players in Year 1, 48 per cent in Year 2 and 47 per cent the rest of the way.

The players had offered to delink salaries from revenues, asking for a 2 per cent raise from the $1.87 billion they got last year, a raise of 4 per cent in Year 2, and a raise of 6 per cent in Year 3, with guarantees in Years 4 and 5 that the players would not receive less than 51 per cent of revenue nor more than 57 per cent.

Players began to make their views known even before the conference call.

Mike Komisarek, the Maple Leafs’ player rep, told the Star he needed more time to absorb the offer but echoed sentiments of players elsewhere that meaningful talks were hopefully starting at last.

“My hope is that this proposal signals a willingness from the NHL to finally start real and meaningful negotiations,” Komisarek said in an email. “I still know that a lot of work has to be done.”

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